26-year old lefty swinging Joey Votto is probably the Reds’ best hitter so they need him healthy and focused the whole season in 2010. Votto played in 131 games for the Reds last season and he was 151 for 469 (.322 avg, .981 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 25 homers, 84 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Reds are putting a lot of faith in Votto as they don’t really have a back-up for him on the major league roster. Votto needs to improve his defense some as he made 10 errors in 130 games for the Reds at 1B last season.

22-year old lefty swinging 1B Yonder Alonso is one of the Reds’ best prospects and they would likely give him a call if Votto got injured and Alonso was playing well in the minors at that time. Alonso played in 84 games in Rookie+A+AA-ball last season in which he was 86 for 295 (.292 avg, .838 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 9 homers and 52 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: B+